Is obesity really an epidemic? Should we wage war on it?

Some critics argue that calling it either ‘the obesity epidemic’ or ‘the war on obesity’ is misleading and can have dangerous consequences. They point to serious issues such as inaccurate measurement using BMI, the misleading claims of a burgeoning weight-loss industry, and the stigmatization of overweight people.

Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America's Obesity EpidemicBy Eric Oliver, Oxford University Press, 2006Argues that “a handful of doctors, government bureaucrats, and health researchers, with financial backing from the drug and weight-loss industries, have campaigned to create standards that mislead the public.”

The stigma of being overweight

The Fat Studies ReaderBy Esther Rothblum and Sondra Solovay, Eds., NYU Press, 2009A collection of 53 essays from the growing movement known as ‘fat studies’, exploring a wide range of topics related to body weight, related to sexism, racism, homophobia and many other angles. Contains one chapter on research done in Canada: “Not Jane Fonda: Aerobics for Fat Women Only”.

The Stigma of Obesity: A Review and UpdateBy Rebecca Puhl and Chelsea Heuer, Obesity, 2009Examines the evidence that obese people face many forms of prejudice because of their weight, comparable to rates of racial discrimination, especially among women. For example, women are 16 times more likely to report weight-related employment discrimination than men.